


Often Forgotten

by shnuffeluv



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angry Morality | Patton Sanders, Corrupted Sides (Sanders Sides), Deceit Sanders Has a Different Name, Gen, Good Deceit Sanders, Heavy Angst, Religious Discussion, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Villain Morality | Patton Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-07 18:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19474930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: Deceit overhears Patton exclaiming that Thomas doesn't need Deceit, and how Thomas would be better off without him. But when Deceit really does leave, the remaining sides begin to grow scales on their face, beginning to replace the spot where Deceit had once been. With no clear fix in sight, the others have to struggle through this new development. Some take it better than others.





	Often Forgotten

"Thomas doesn't need him! He doesn't _need_ Deceit! He's not a part of Thomas that deserves to be here!"

The vehement tone of voice and the use of Deceit's name made him pause in his way to the kitchen to grab some tea. No matter what the other sides said, tea was far superior to coffee, and made him look more sophisticated to boot. And the others would never know this, but Deceit _lived_ for coming off as sophisticated. However, all thoughts of tea left his head as he heard the hushed conversation.

Logan was the next to speak. "I know you don't like him, Patton, but--"

"But nothing!" Patton interjected. "He's only hurting Thomas! Not helping him!"

Deceit's hands balled into fists. How _dare_ Patton suggest such a thing! He was the one who explained that Deceit was there to help with self-preservation in the videos! But that didn't mean that Patton approved of his methods, or his presence...he flattened himself against the wall and inched closer to hear better.

"Look, Pat, as much as I hate Deceit, he _does_ have a purpose..." Virgil said. "We would be wrong to try and get rid of him. I hate the guy, but we do need him."

Ah, Virgil. Deceit didn't quite know what happened to cause Virgil to turn against him and the others, but Virgil wasn't going to tell. Virgil would rather die than admit that he hated being what Roman considered a "Dark Side" and that he wanted to be seen as good so desperately that he started appearing in Thomas' videos. And Deceit wasn't keen on torturing Virgil, so a secret that fact would remain.

Patton stood up and started to pace in his anger, sputtering. He turned in a circle around the light sides. "Don't you see?! He has you all believing that, but it's a lie! He doesn't need to be here! He has you all convinced, but I won't be fooled! He's not going to talk to Thomas ever again!"

Deceit forcibly relaxed his hands only when he realized they were shaking in their pent-up fury as fists. Who gave Patton the right to say that?! How did _he_ know what was best for Thomas? Just because he represented Thomas' morality (or at least the moral high road), he thought that what he said was law. And he would not be deterred.

That was something Deceit knew he couldn't go up against. If he got into a fight against Patton, Deceit would lose and alienate what little trust he had built in the others. But he couldn't build more of a rapport if Patton was going to refuse to allow him into any of their conversations, or shared living spaces. Deceit's mind was racing as the silence in the Commons prolonged. He couldn't win in any situation his mind played out, so why even try? He spun on his heel and moved back to his room. He shut the door forcefully and locked it, before sitting on his bed and meditating. He needed to move his room to the subconscious. That way, he'd never have to deal with Patton or the others ever again. And they all won. Maybe Thomas would even be glad Deceit was gone.

As Deceit successfully moved his room into the subconscious, the other sides felt a certain shift in the atmosphere of the Mind Palace. It didn't feel strained, but it certainly wasn't more relaxed, either. There was a subtle _shift_ that none of the others could place. It set all of them on edge, though, including Patton. But Patton resolved if Deceit was up to something, he would show his face soon enough.

Days passed. Logan thought it odd that he hadn't seen Deceit at all, and his tea bags hadn't been touched. Roman would walk past where his room used to be and scratch his head. He knew that there was a door there before, but he couldn't remember whose it was. Maybe it was Remus. The side was always moving his room around, just to mess with everyone.

Soon, though, Thomas had a moral dilemma and all the sides were summoned to the living room. Logan popped up, then Roman, then Patton. Virgil appeared and they all looked to Thomas, who was shifting uneasily. "So, you guys might have noticed that Cheryl, Aunt Patty's friend, isn't doing so well..." he said. "And Aunt Patty kind of wants me to send Cheryl some well wishes."

"But Cheryl is a homophobe, isn't she? She's the one who tried to set you up with a couple girls in college," Virgil said.

Thomas winced. "Yeah. I really don't want to deal with her again, but Aunt Patty only wants something as small as a card. Still, if Cheryl sees it, she'll take it as an invitation to try and 'help' me again."

"Ah, but it would not be optimal to explain this to Aunt Patty?" Logan said. "After all, Cheryl is her best friend, and she never suggested you date girls to Aunt Patty's face."

"Who says we have to tell Aunt Patty what her best friend did? Why can't we just send Cheryl a card and ignore her attempts to set us up again?" Patton proposed.

"Why deal with that at all when we could say that Cheryl didn't like us much and she wouldn't appreciate our card?" Roman proposed. Immediately after the words left his mouth, a piece of his cheek started to smoke and he bent over, yelping in pain.

Now, none of the sides had to deal with what happened when they proposed to lie before. Deceit would be the one influencing them to say it, and would field all the punishment that Thomas' mind gave to the proposed lie. But with Deceit disappeared into the subconscious, no one was there to take the hit for the other sides. Roman's skin burned like fire, and he clawed at his cheek desperately, before a small piece of skin fluttered to the ground, and a single scale took place on Roman's face. Everyone stared at him.

"Deceit...?" Logan asked, but his voice wasn't as sure as it usually was.

"What? No, it's me, guys, it's Roman! Why are you..." his voice trailed off as his fingers brushed against the scale. "Is that...? What I think it is?"

"Apparently so," Logan said, tweaking his glasses. "I have no idea how that developed, though."

Virgil's jaw was open wide, and he made a croaking noise. "I know...I know that...that Deceit used to...used to have scales form when he lied, years ago...but...but how would you be growing scales?"

"Perhaps it's from the suggestion that we lie?" Logan asked. "Although why this would appear on Roman and not Deceit puzzles me."

"Well, Roman was the one who suggested lying! That's probably why!" Patton exclaimed. "If you lie, or suggest you lie, you grow scales? Maybe that's what happens?"

"I mean I guess?" Roman said, scratching at the scale. "It's not coming off, and it hurts!"

"Stop scratching at it then," Logan said. "That will only make matters worse!"

Virgil was silent, and Thomas didn't fail to notice this. "You okay, Virgil?"

"I'm fine," Virgil said, before clamping a hand over his mouth, a muffled scream coming out before a scale appeared just below his lips.

The others watched with horror, realizing that they could no longer lie, even about their feelings, without scales growing all over them. Logan was trying to figure out how to navigate this, while Roman simply prayed no one would ask about his insecurities, and Patton watched impassively. Out of all their reactions, Patton's was the most alarming, because the emotive side just...did nothing. He stared with a neutral, calculating gaze, as if weighing the merits of the sides' very continued existence. As if he were deciding if they would help Thomas or not.

"Maybe...maybe I should tell Aunt Patty that I can't send a card right now because I've got a lot on my hands," Thomas said uncertainly. "That's...definitely not a lie."

"Do so," Logan advised. "And then we should figure out how to fix this."

Thomas nodded and the sides sunk out, back to the Commons. Patton still looked impassive, but internally he was glaring at the scales on his two friends. Why was this suddenly something that was happening? Where was Deceit in all of this? What was he hoping to achieve in making the others lie? Nothing good, Patton was sure, and he wanted to teach Deceit a lesson. Teach him that Thomas didn't need him, that lies were evil, that Thomas was a _good person_ and _good people_ didn't lie.

"Where's Deceit?" Roman asked. "I would have thought that he would be waiting here to gloat about whatever his evil scheme is."

Logan looked around and frowned. He was genuinely perturbed at the lack of Deceit. "He doesn't appear to be here. Perhaps he is in his room?"

Virgil shrugged. "We can check. Isn't his door right by yours, Patton?"

"Oh. Oh no," Roman said. "That was _his_ room?"

"What do you mean 'was'?" Virgil asked, voice rising in panic.

"There _was_ a door there, but it recently disappeared. I thought it was Remus messing around again," Roman said, worry coloring his voice.

"How recently did it disappear?" Logan pressed.

"I'm not sure. A couple of days?" Roman said.

"That's when the teabags stopped being used," Logan muttered. His eyes widened. "You don't think that he's trying to go dormant, do you?"

Virgil's eyes widened. "Like when I ducked out?! But...but wouldn't that mean that we _couldn't_ lie?"

"Unless..." Roman chewed his lip. "Unless the lies we tell are _replacing_ Deceit."

Patton's face showed brief rage before it became completely impassive and stony. "That can't be what's happening," he said with certainty. "No one here will be _replacing_ Deceit."

Virgil worried his hands and said, "Patton, I don't think you get to decide this. Thomas' brain is going to do _something_ if Deceit has gone dormant."

"Yeah? Well, it's not going to get a replacement! We're better off with Deceit gone!" Patton exclaimed. Smoke appeared on his forehead as skin peeled back revealing not one, but two scales.

Logan's brows furrowed. He was concerned that if Patton developed two scales when the others only developed one, that Patton was more susceptible to lies. But, he reasoned, Patton might have told two lies. That they were better off without Deceit and that the brain wouldn't get a replacement, so he kept quiet. After all, it would do no good to make everyone worry senselessly.

"I'm going to look and see if maybe Deceit just moved his room to worry us," Virgil said, quickly leaving the Commons.

"I'm going to see if these scales can come off," Roman said, retreating to his room.

Patton's face was still impassive. "Patton," Logan said softly. "Aren't you a tiny bit worried about what this means?"

"No," Patton said with certainty. "Deceit being gone is a good thing for us."

And the scariest part to Logan was that Patton believed that so whole-heartedly that not a single scale formed on his skin.

As days passed and Deceit still didn't show his face, everyone became increasingly worried. Well... _almost_ everyone. Virgil was the most obvious about it, constantly looking around like Deceit might jump out of the shadows at any moment and lecture them on _this_ was why they needed him, and they should be _glad_ that he decided to return. But he never did.

Roman was next obvious. Whenever he suggested anything that resembled a lie, he would have a scale grow on his face. But being half of Thomas' imagination, there was a very fine line between fact and fiction for Roman. He would claw at the scales, try and get them to go away, but nothing worked. The scales he gained always stuck. He'd sometimes mutter that if only Deceit was here, this wouldn't be a problem.

Logan, while not outwardly worried, was quite possibly the most anxious of them all. For Deceit being gone meant the mind would try and compensate somehow. And all of them were gaining scales here and there--Virgil about his feelings, Roman about his ideas and insecurities, and Logan about his self-care habits, but Patton. Patton was gaining scales left and right.

It didn't even hurt Patton anymore when his human skin faded away to form another scale. He often was found snarling around the halls or in the Commons, his tongue bringing sharper words, and his eyes shooting menacing glares. Often, he would snap at the others that they were doing something wrong, or that he didn't want to talk to them, he didn't need help, that the others were being useless and was he the _only one who could see the big picture here?!_

Logan didn't dare bring it up with Patton, but he had been searching through the subconscious, trying to find where Deceit put his room. Maybe, if he could return, this would stop. Maybe Patton would lighten up, Virgil would calm down, and Roman would feel free to share his ideas again. He was never successful, but he held out hope. After all, with Patton getting harsher and harsher standards for all of them, something had to be done.

Things came to a head two months after Deceit had disappeared. Thomas was trying to figure out how to tell Terrence that he couldn't come visit, because he didn't have it in him to say goodbye to his friend again just yet, but he didn't want to say that to hurt Terrence's feelings.

Patton went ballistic. He said that lying would only lead them into danger, that Thomas would be a terrible person if he even told a half-truth, that he had to be completely honest. He could sugarcoat it, but only if that was by telling the truth. Logan had a smattering of scales across his forehead and around his left eye at that point, Virgil had quite a few around the nose and mouth, and the bottom left quarter of Roman's face was completely covered, but Patton had stopped forming new scales. It wasn't a matter of not hurting him, they just weren't showing up anymore.

Everyone in the room felt horror creep up their spine as Patton's left eye flashed golden and turned into that of a snake's, and his jawline bore the same shadows that Deceit's once had. Logan quickly sunk out of the room, dashing from the Commons to the subconscious, his only thoughts finding Deceit. Because if he didn't act fast, Patton was going to hurt Thomas, possibly permanently.

When Logan ran smack-dab into a wall, he nearly sobbed in relief when he opened the door attached to it and found Deceit. Or at least...he thought it was Deceit. His outfit was the same, with the same snake logo, but he was completely free of scales. He startled and looked over at Logan. "Logan, what--"

"No time!" Logan exclaimed. "Living room, now, Patton's hurting Thomas!"

That was all it took. The two sides sank out of the subconscious and shot up in the living room. Everyone turned to them in surprise. Even Patton stopped his tirade. Deceit stared at all of them in shock. Each of them had scales somewhere on their person, in clumps around specific areas, mostly, but he recognized the scales as his own. So that's where they had been disappearing to. He had wondered.

Deceit winced as he saw the state of Roman and Virgil. Logan had a few scales, but those two seemed to get quite a few from his left side, if he wasn't mistaken. Then he turned to Patton and gasped. Patton looked...like Deceit did, before. He was covered in scales, his left eye that of a snake, his left jaw no doubt having the ability to unhinge like Deceit's did before he had slowly gained his human features back.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is," Patton spat. "The other three have been worried about you, _Deceit._ They thought that you being gone was a bad thing. I disagree. You should have _stayed dormant."_

Deceit stood there, taking Patton in. He had scales not only covering his face, but going down his neck and all along his left arm and hand. He had no doubt the same was true for his leg. Patton had taken on what Deceit's duties had been. He became the one who lied, and it corrupted Patton completely. There was no way Deceit could save him, not if Patton didn't accept his help. And considering the way Patton was looking at him right now, Patton definitely wouldn't be accepting Deceit's help any time soon.

"Why did you come back? Huh? Did _Logan_ bring you here? I ought to _thank_ him for that. Really. It just proves to everyone what I've been saying all along. Deceit has no place at the table."

Deceit squared his shoulders, and stared down Patton. "No, it doesn't. But it appears that I am not the one who is lying right now, Patton."

Patton cackled, a truly evil sound that Deceit recognized from him doing it enough times when he had to instigate the others into considering his view, or get them to dismiss his ideas so he could nudge them in the right direction without them realizing he approved. "That's rich. _I'm_ Morality, Deceit! What I say, goes!"

"You're not Morality," Deceit said with a thousand-yard stare. "Not anymore."

Patton took in a deep breath to yell, but Deceit grabbed his voice with a flick of his wrist. "That is quite enough, _Purity._ Your viewpoints are toxic, and damaging Thomas. No one is a perfect person, and as Morality you should have seen that the world isn't simply black and white. I helped Thomas in my own way by telling him to lie. What are you achieving when you yell and exclaim he's a terrible person, hm? You're simply hurting him! You're the embodiment of purity culture, not Morality. Not anymore. And since Purity cannot be attained, at least not in this life, it should not be what Thomas strides for. You're hurting him, Patton. You are no longer welcome here."

When Deceit let Patton speak again, he simply snarled, "You haven't seen the last of me. You'll see that I was right all along!" as he sunk out.

Deceit watched the spot where Patton stood with disdain. "No, I do believe that is the last time I allow you around Thomas," he said. "After all, I'm the other half of Morality. I control when the Dark Sides can and cannot show up."

"Deceit," Thomas breathed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's so good to have you back."

Logan cleared his throat. "Actually, I believe that Deceit has become a misnomer," he said. "As he had stated, he is what remains of your morality. That means he sees the good, and the bad. His sole purpose is not to make you lie, Thomas, but to see both sides of the equation."

Deceit stared at Logan in surprise. The few scales that had been there before were fading away, and Roman and Virgil's skin was clearing as well.

"I believe Patton... _Purity_ has stolen the last of the scales we had obtained," Logan said, feeling his skin. "Just as well. We couldn't gather scales every time we lied for the rest of our lives. And if he has accepted that he is no longer...no longer a Light Side, then he may be embracing what defines him now, including those scales."

"Purity is a toxic standard," Deceit said. "It's as slippery as a snake, and tempts you like the old story in Genesis, telling you you can be perfect, if only you can do this or that. But morality is not, and never has been, black and white."

"I'm glad you see that...Morality," Logan said.

Deceit blinked. He pointed at himself wordlessly.

"Yeah, you," Virgil said from the stairs. "You were always a form of Morality, and now we know you're fighting for us and with us, not against us. You earn the title."

"Often, we forget that the world isn't black and white," Roman said. "We often forget that living in the gray is good for us. That it means we don't have to hold ourselves to that pure, perfect standard."

"Go on, you can take Morality's spot," Thomas said, gesturing to where Patton once stood.

Deceit...Morality slowly walked across the room, taking off his hat and playing with the brim of it. "Is there something we can call you beyond Morality?" Logan asked. "It's all right if you don't wish to share..."

"No, it's okay," Morality said. "I had a name before, but I'm not so sure it fits me anymore."

"You can choose a new one, if that's what you wish," Logan said.

Roman grinned. "I, for one, would love to hear your new name."

They all waited with baited breath. Morality took a deep breath, flipped his hat in his hands and put it on his head with confidence. His shoulders were squared and his chin tilted upwards as he said, "You can call me Ethan."

"All right, Ethan," Thomas said with a grin. "It's nice to finally meet you properly. Do you think...Patton will ever recover?"

Ethan's confidence slipped. "I don't know," he said. "That sort of corruption is very hard to recover from, and near impossible if you don't accept help. Even if he accepted, the scales would return to me. I would still be Morality...Ethan, but if Patton were to return, and try to kick me out from the group again...I would push back, by any means necessary. And that might again start up the struggle that caused this to happen in the first place."

The room in the mood sobered up some. "Oh," Virgil said softly. "I'm...gonna miss him. Not who he became, but who he once was."

Logan and Roman murmured their agreement. Ethan bowed his head. "I shouldn't have tried to make myself dormant," he said. "Maybe this would never have happened."

"I think...this was doomed to happen one way or another, Ethan," Thomas said. "Purely by the way Patton acted around you. Don't think I didn't notice how he would fight with you in the Mind Palace whenever he could. Don't beat yourself up over it. You _saved us._ All of us. From him."

Ethan looked around, and everyone was smiling gratefully at him. Nervously, hesitantly, he started to smile back.

"All right, then," Thomas said. "Ethan, what do _you_ think I should say to Terrence?"

Ethan considered. "Well, obviously being brutally honest would hurt his feelings, but I'm sure there's a way we can say this that wouldn't be a lie _and_ spare us an awkward moment..."


End file.
